He opened one eye after the arrow never came. He heard her call to shoot again. She called for them to shoot several times until he could hear them call to her that they were out of arrows. The crackling of fire finally stopped and he couldn’t see the girl because she was surrounded by smoke. Joron and Leodos were pushing forward. Joron was checking on his granddaughter because he didn’t know what the flames coming off her had done to her and Leodos was walking in front of her and laughing, surprised at the melted pools of steel that hadn’t come anywhere near piercing them.
“How did you know this would work?” he laughed, pulling her to him. “Do you know this will work with more than just four people shooting at us?”
“I told you I saw what came before. Nothing the tribes tried the first time worked. I came up with another solution. I told you it would work. You either doubt me or tell me I don’t understand.”
“Because you keep telling us things that have never been done before. It’s hard to take in at first,” he said, ruffling her hair. “I can tell you’re tired again because I can feel you and holding that much fire did the same to me. What is it going to do to you when we get to Idric?”
“We will all have to hold on and look strong until they leave. We will need to rest at the house I grew up in before we leave again. Don’t come near me and let them know I’m tired, even if you can feel it. Don’t let them see you are tired either.”
She had not connected Joron to her and he didn’t know if she would since he never seemed to be able to get her alone to get to know her like her mother had. He couldn’t feel how tired she was, he could only guess based on his weariness from holding that much magic. She had to feel worse, having given them the fire and the flames that had come off of her. He had never seen that much flame come off a Tempris before, but they had also spent so long hiding themselves that he didn’t know what it was like. He had lost control many times growing up, but never that much. He didn’t know if she felt worse than he did or if it bothered her less because of who she was.
He walked over to check on her and Leodos already had his arm around her leading her away. Esylle had joined them. He didn’t want Esylle coming with them to Idric and didn’t understand why the girl had allowed her. He didn’t want to drive the girl away by trying to force her to make Esylle stay and he didn’t want to upset Esylle now that she had started smiling again. Her smiles became rare after Lisana was taken and only Leodos could pull a small one over the last nineteen years. Watching them together now, he knew why. He knew the girl had done it and he still hadn’t had the chance to thank her. He had watched Esylle around him growing up and thought it was a young girl’s crush that had gone away when she wed. If he had known it never left, he would have given them both what they wanted and insisted they wed instead of making her meet the three Lords the day Lisana showed up again.
He followed Leodos and Esylle as they led her back instead. Joron was tired and wanted to lie down, but he worried as he watched her get weaker the more they walked. He saw her shiver with cold and realized she didn’t have enough energy left to make enough fire to warm herself. He had only just begun to think that Leodos should keep her warm when he could feel the warmth coming from him and he pulled her closer to him. When she stumbled, he picked her up and carried her the rest of the way. Joron wanted to follow, but knew she needed to sleep.
Oris
Oris knew he needed to learn to be the husband she needed, but he didn’t like her plans. He went with them to the beach now that he could be near them and watched the wood of the arrows explode and the steel tips melt before they even came close to hitting her. It was magnificent to watch her at full power, even if Leodos usually had to carry her away afterward.
He watched from the beach, jealous that he couldn’t be with them. He was amazed that over the three days that he watched her teach them, the less tired she got. She seemed to get used to it. By the third day, he proudly watched her walk back into Inanos with no help and thought to himself what a good queen she would make. She would be his queen, even if he had to share her with the others.
Sleeping with the four of them in his bed was strange at first. He knew what her mother thought they were going to do. He wanted to experience mating with her again now that they were connected, but he really was too tired that day and all they did was sleep. It was strange sleeping so close to Sono at first, but once he relaxed, it no longer felt strange sleeping so close to another man.
She had not asked to sleep with the three of them again, even though Oris knew all three of them enjoyed it and he could feel that it made her happy before she drifted off to sleep. They had talked amongst themselves about doing it again because they were all surprised they enjoyed it, but had not asked her about it again. He knew if they asked her, it would cause problems with Leodos and Esylle. He couldn’t feel them like he felt her, but he could see the looks they both gave all four of them when they were together. Oris knew why they were upset, but thought if he could accept sharing their bed, they should too.
He had woken up the fourth day expecting to go to the beach again. He didn’t like sleeping alone now. He jumped out of bed and dressed. He expected to go eat with the other Theran and go back to the beach. He had accepted that he wouldn’t go with them, he just liked watching her at full power and knowing she would be his queen.
When he went to eat with the other Theran, his father wasn’t there like usual and his mother was upset. When he asked her what was wrong and where his father was, she threw her fork down and he thought she was too upset to answer.
“I don’t care who she is supposed to be. He told me what she plans to do and she’s going to get him killed. They are eating together and then they are leaving for Idric. If he dies, I hope she dies with him. I don’t want to look at her if she comes back without him.”
“Mother, you’re talking about my future queen. She wouldn’t put him in danger and I’ve been watching them on the beach. She can do this like she says she will,” he said, trying to calm his mother.
“If four tribes couldn’t win against them fighting, I don’t see how she plans to do it with so few people just by talking to them.”
He tried to calm his mother by explained to her how she came to the idea of what she needed to do and what she saw in her dreams from what came before. He trusted her and his mother needed to as well. His mother snapped at him that his judgment was clouded because of his feelings for her. He was almost finished with his breakfast and wanted to see her before they left.
He roamed around before finally finding them all eating at the stone table they had her name day feast at. They were all in intense conversation when he walked in and stopped when they saw him. She looked up at him and he could feel from her why she thought he was there. He reassured her that he was not trying to come with them, he just wanted to see them off and he liked seeing her use her gifts. He wanted to see what she became that could carry all of them that was from her stories. He felt her relax and she gave him a teasing smile before she asked him to sit with them.
Everyone at the table was tense except her. She didn’t protest when he pulled a chair next to hers and took her hand. She smiled at him and he tried to send courage to her because he could feel she was nervous even though she was trying not to let the others see. She was trying to be strong for them, but he could tell that both her mother and Leodos knew what she was feeling underneath what she was showing everyone.
She stood when everyone finished eating and asked if they were ready to leave. He thought she could understand his feelings now, but she turned to him and made him swear he wouldn’t follow. He pulled her to him and wanted one last kiss before she left, even though he knew her mother and Leodos were not going to like it. He felt heat bloom in her like it always did when he kissed her.
“I’m not going to follow. I wanted to see what creature you become from your stories. I don’t know the stories you were told. Maybe when you come back, you can tell them to me.”
He couldn’t help it and stole another kiss. He kissed her harder this time, knowing she would be away from him for a few days and in danger. She responded like she always did until Leodos pulled him away and told him that was enough.
“I don’t want to think about what the two of you have already done, much less witness it,” Leodos snapped at him.
Oris wasn’t going to say anything to him, but Soryn did. She asked him why he always got angry with the three princes and never her. She kissed him back and if she hadn’t wanted him to, she would have pushed him away. He watched Leodos turned purple with embarrassment and saw him try not to get angry with her now.
“I don’t want to think about you kissing anyone and I don’t want to see it. The two of you need to learn to control yourselves or at least learn not to do it in public where everyone can see you kiss like that.”
Oris could feel she was irritated and he could tell this was an argument they had more often than just today. He had a feeling there was one similar to this after they had all slept in his chambers and that was why she had not brought up doing it again. She snapped at him that she grew up without any affection and now she was enjoying it. If he didn’t like it, then don’t look. He thought Leodos would get angry and continue arguing with her and he was surprised when he looked at her sadly.
She didn’t say anything else to Leodos and told everyone that the humans were on Idric searching for them. They needed to leave now and she could fly them there fairly quickly. Oris could tell his father was uneasy about the thought of flying and no one knew what she would become to fly them. Volaris was used to flying and seemed nervous as well. Joron and Esylle who could both fly now seemed disturbed. Fluvis looked stoic, as usual.
When they got to the beach, she finally asked them why they were nervous about flying with her. Volaris admitted to her that he wasn’t used to being in the air without wings and Esylle and Joron said they were just getting used to flying and this was new to them. She blew out an irritated sigh and told them if they tried to fly as they normally did, they would be shot out of the air and they needed to trust her.
She asked them to stand back and he watched her try to transform. It wasn’t like when any of them normally transformed. He watched her arch her back with her arms thrown back. For a moment, she looked like a Theran dancer in her grace. When the air around her didn’t stir, he was confused. She had done everything she had set her mind to so far. Could she not do this? He felt a pain in his neck and watched in confusion as Esylle and Leodos held theirs. He looked back over to her and watched her face grow longer as his hurt. Her neck grew larger and as her body grew, his began to ache. This wasn’t a normal transformation. If he listened hard enough, over the pain he was feeling, he could hear her bones snapping and rearranging themselves.
Leodos and Esylle were limping towards her and screaming at her to stop this, but he could feel determination coming from her and she pressed forward. His entire body ached, like the day he first met her and had to run so hard to get back home. He gritted his teeth and didn’t call for her to stop the way her mother was doing. He trusted her that she knew what she was doing.
The skin on his arms began to burn and he saw hers stretching and almost melting to join her hips to form veiny wings. She was on all fours like some winged lizard, but was not large enough to carry everyone. His skin began to itch like the day he healed like her and he watched her skin change to green and harden like armor. He looked at her again and her long neck ended with a reptilian head with a flared snout. Her violet eyes were now red and had catlike slits down the center. Her body was elongated and made even longer with the tail she had. The tail had blood red spikes towards the end of it.
She was still around the size that he was when he turned into a lion and his skin felt too tight now. The air started to stir around her like it would if she was changing like a normal Theran animal. He thought the pain would stop now, but it felt like his hide was too tight as he watched her grow larger. It didn’t seem like she would ever stop and soon she was as tall as the doors to Inanos. She didn’t stop there and grew at least another fifteen feet before she stopped.
The pain he was experiencing because this hurt her stopped. He finally stopped watching her and looked at everyone else. His father, Fluvis, and Volaris looked at her in awe and confusion, but Esylle, Leodos, and Joron seemed to know exactly what she had become. Oria told Oris stories growing up, but they were all Theran stories and sometimes she told him stories from the other tribes. This must be a creature from human stories.
No one made a move to go to her and he heard Volaris whisper to Esylle asking what she was. Esylle didn’t answer and her eyes never left the enormous, winged, scaly creature she was now.
“Changing like this hurt her. I could feel a little, but nowhere near how much pain this caused her. She can’t talk like this to answer, but I think we should wait and let her recover before we leave. I don’t think I can feel her transform again knowing it’s hurting her.”
Volaris was about to speak when Oris felt something from her again that energized him. He knew Esylle and Leodos could feel it because they took a step towards her. He looked back at her, still not knowing what she was. Her long neck arched back and she let out a screech, unlike anything he had ever heard. Flames erupted from her snout and when the noise coming from her stopped, she blew flames from her mouth that rivaled the flames that came from her when she was training them to burn arrows. He didn’t know if it was the light in her, but something had refreshed her and she was no longer tired and felt no pain. She was ready to fight now, even if she didn’t want to.
She crouched down as low as possible and gestured with her head for them to get on her back. Esylle no longer looked worried and Leodos was laughing. Volaris, Fluvis, and his father all looked at him confused.
“She’s going to scare them out their wits,” Leodos chuckled. “I wish she had told me this is what she was going to become. They will be so shocked seeing her, they’ll have to stop and listen.”
“What is she?” Volaris asked, still staring at her like he was frightened of her. “This is not in any of our stories.”
“No, but it was in hers. I think Belisarus kept her busy instead of asking questions he wouldn’t answer by telling her human myths. There is one about a knight that discovered treasure that was being guarded by a large, winged serpent that breathed fire. Its skin couldn’t be pierced by arrows or any human weapon. The knight managed to distract the serpent using his wits long enough to steal its treasure, but was never able to kill it. She’s the unkillable flying serpent in that story! They will be transported back to their childhood and that story and it will give them pause long enough for her to say what she needs to. I should never have doubted her!”
“He should have taught her how to use her gifts and to rule, not wild human tales!” Terros finally said.
“That wild human tale is how she is going to do what you want her to do in a way she thinks she is supposed to!”
Terros was right under Leodos’ nose and Oris hoped they didn’t come to blows. He could tell his father was about to lose control and say something to Leodos when she silenced everyone with that unearthly shriek again. They all stopped to look at her and if a serpent could look impatient, she did. She motioned again for them to climb on her back.
His father backed down and he watched wistfully as they all tried to find footholds to climb onto her. There was room for Oris, but he knew he had to stay. He watched as they were all jostled as she stood and began to flap two leathery wings. She began to lift off the ground and everyone on her back flung themselves forward and tried to find something to hold onto as she gained height.
He stood in the sand and watched her grow smaller as she flew away. He wished more than anything that he coul
d be by her side and watch her do what she was created for. He didn’t fly off and follow her. He knew he would distract her and he knew he would be by her side for the peace that came after.
Leodos
Leodos knew he shouldn’t feel this way, but he felt like a child again riding on her back. The only time he got a respite from reading the family journals full of torture, which his father made him start reading as soon as he was able and too young to read such violence, was when his mother told him stories at night. His favorite was the one about the serpent and the knight and he couldn’t help being excited to see the serpent in front of him when he realized that was what she was becoming. He couldn’t tell at first and all he could feel was the pain she was experiencing trying to change.
He could hear bones snapping and knew it was hurting her because his body ached like he had just finished a long session training with a sword when he was old enough. He couldn’t fully enjoy what he was seeing until he felt something come from her that the light must have healed her again and she was at full power again.
He was in the front of everyone grasping on to her neck and Esylle was behind him gripping his waist so hard he was having trouble breathing. He wanted to call back to her to ask if she was okay back there, but Lisana was flying hard and fast and the wind over the sea was so strong, he doubted she would hear him.
He had never been to Idric Island before and had no reason to go. He didn’t know what it was like, nor how he would know they were getting close. They flew over several small islands in the sea, but she never went down to them. He finally spotted a tall, looming mass of stone in the distance and wondered if that was Idric. As they got closer, he was sure it was. It was elevated high above the sea and appeared to made of stone. She seemed to be looking directly at and flying towards it.
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